After the confession, Yukimura Suzune still did not let go of Natsume Chikage's hand. She led him onward, just like that.
Now that she had said everything she needed to say, she felt much lighter.
After all, she had been holding it in for days.
The only reason she had waited was that Natsume Chikage kept saying he would not consider dating until he came back from buying a house.
Otherwise, given her personality, she would have confessed long ago.
Whatever happened next, she was happy to hear that Chikage liked her.
She did not know how things would turn out, but even if she failed in the end, she would not regret it.
Yukimura Suzune looked straight ahead and tightened her grip on his hand, as though affirming her resolve. "Chikage, whatever you decide in the end, I hope you'll tell me directly instead of keeping it from me. I don't like that."
"I will," Natsume Chikage promised with a nod.
Then Natsume Chikage remembered something. He began using Divine Power to try to see his future with Yukimura Suzune.
A moment later,
images of the future flickered through his mind.
He saw himself sitting on the veranda of an enormous house he had never seen before, eyes closed as he enjoyed the afternoon weather.
Natsume Chikage noticed that he wore the same kind of ring as before. Does that mean Suzune and I won't be a couple in the future?
That can't be right... I like Suzune quite a bit.
There ought to be a future where he was with Suzune, just as there had been one with Fujiwara Aoi.
And there was.
Yukimura Suzune walked over slowly and settled into his lap.
As an adult, her face and figure were much the same as they had been